Becoming a Benebabe

 

I have lovingly stared and the bright beautiful packing of Benefit for some time.  I see them everywhere- hello, airport kiosk. I love the Benefit branding. Benebabes on rollerskates handing out makeup samples? Super cute. However, price point has always driven me to other brands.

For example, my beloved mousse blush from Ulta is almost constantly on sale for $3. Benefit blushes and bronzers run almost 30. 10 times the price?! What kind of crazy am I?!

I've sampled the Benefit BB cream, Porefessional primer, and Lollibalm. I wasn't in love with any of them. But this nagging little voice kept urging me to try the Hoola bronzer.

As it turns out, I AM the kind of crazy who blows all her money on bronzer and blush. When you see lots of beauty blogs, and watch lots of beauty vlogs you can't help from constantly running across this magical Hoola bronzer.

I have very fair skin and finding a bronzer I like is next to impossible. Too orangey. Too shimmery. Not blendable. I have tried my fair share. I've never really been in love with a bronzer. I hop, skip, and jump to a wide variety of brands.

Ulta had a 10x points promotion going on, and I figured now was as good a time as any to get my crazy on. I went completely round the bend and not only ordered Hoola but also ordered Dandelion, a pink blush.

If you can afford the splurge, I do in fact love this bronzer. It is works well for a pale girl like me and that is saying something. It is completely matte. It blends beautifully. Perfection for every day wear. It comes with a brush and the lid has a nice little mirror. This my friends is the one for me.

I have no idea what drew me to dandelion. It is described as a "ballerina" pink blush or can be utilized as a "face brightening finishing powder". It does have a shimmer but an appropriate amount to make it luminous not disco ball.

 

My opinion is skip the overpriced Porefessional and go right to the blushes & bronzers. They also offer other varieties including Rockateur, a rose gold shimmery blush, and Dallas which appears to be more of a mauve, and also Coralista which not surprisingly is coral in color. Worth the splurge!

Frugal Friday: E.L.F.

Candy... Candy Canes... Candy Corn... Syrup.

Oh, wait. Not that Elf.

I was recently called a makeup snob. I'm not. Really. If its a dollar and does the job, I'm good with that. Do I have favorite brands that aren't cheap? Maybe. But that's more about preference than ability to get the job done.

On Fridays I'll try to show you only drugstore or cheaper products. Starting with Eyes. Lip. Face. brand. I think this brand gets a ton of attention from Pinterest. I have mixed feelings. Some things are great, some things are pretty much you get what you pay for.

Here are some products that I've given a try:

• Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder in St. Lucia
• Essential Natural Lash Kit
• Studio Cream Eyeliner in Coffee
• Essential Liquid Eyeliner in Copper and Black
• Eyelid Primer

Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder

 

This is supposedly a dupe for a Nars product (Laguna/Orgasm). This Nars combo is supposedly the best blush color for everyone. That being said I felt I just had to spend the 3 whole dollars to see for myself.  I don't own said Nars product but I would highly doubt it is a legitimate dupe. It is completely flaky and hard as hell to get blended. Crazy fall out. Crazy. The blush isn't so bad but the bronzer is just sooooo difficult to work with. On the upside it is very pigmented and the colors are flattering. The bronzer is a nice color without being orange. The blush is a nice peach with a tiny bit of shimmer. Would I recommend it? Well, its 3 bucks, you can check it out yourself. It doesn't really live up to the expectation that pinterest created for it. I probably won't buy it again. 

 

 Essential Natural Lash Kit

 

 



 These lashes cost a dollar. 1 dollar. As you can see they do not look over the top but add a little something extra. These were easy to work with. I wrapped them around my eyeliners to make them more pliable. I'm pretty sucky at lashes. I really tried to get these into place correctly and they were probably the most successful lashes I've ever applied. The glue is pretty thin is my biggest complaint. If you are considering taking the plunge this is a low cost starting point in the world of lashes.

Studio Cream Eyeliner

 

 

This eyeliner is not half bad. I don't wear a ton of eyeliner but I like cream eyeliner. It came with an itty bitty brush that had this weird curve in it. I used it once. Now I just use my full size liner brush. If you don't own a full size liner brush, don't bother with this. I love this brown eyeliner for more natural makeup days. They also sell a vibrant teal I would love to get my hands on but Target did not carry that color. I bought this for 3 bucks. I would buy it again.

 

Essential Liquid Eyeliner

 

 

Here are swatches of all the eyeliners. Copper, Black, and Cream Coffee

 

These eyeliners were my first E.L.F. purchases. You can read my original blog post on them here and how I used them to create a leopard print look. I love them. They are worth more than the dollar you spend to get them. The copper glitter is so much fun. Once they dry they have really good staying power.

Eyelid Primer



 

 

 

You can read up here on the importance of eyeshadow primer. Here you can see it buy itself, eyeshadow by itself, and then eyeshadow over the primer. You can see that the primer works well. When I went to wipe off the swatches with a makeup remover cloth the E.L.F. primer really stuck. I had to scrub it really hard to get it to come off. It stuck as well as Urban Decay primer potion. This is definitely something to try out. I have heard it works well for some people, and not for others. For a dollar it would be worth trying out. 

 

 

 Overall the e.l.f. brand is a lot of fun. I will definitely continue to try products from this brand.

Are there any brands you would like to see me feature in a Frugal Friday post? Leave me a comment below and let me know.

My whole look today was with affordable drugstore makeup. My foundation is Dream Smooth Mousse by Maybelline, lipstick is Happy Booster by Physician's Formula, concealer is HD concealer by Nyx, Brow powder by nyx.